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City floodplain update: Manhattan remains CRS class 6; buyouts and levy work continue
Summary
Floodplain administrator Bill Heatherman told commissioners Manhattan holds a Community Rating System (CRS) class 6 with 2,208 points, recapped buyouts and phase 1 levy work, and said project phasing and grant competition remain key constraints for further mitigation.
Bill Heatherman, the city's floodplain administrator, presented Manhattan's annual floodplain and mitigation briefing and said the city remains enrolled in the National Flood Insurance Program. "Everything in floodplain starts with maps," Heatherman said, describing FEMA mapping, state updates and how local GIS and open-space preservation strengthened the city's CRS score to class 6 (2,208 points).
Heatherman reviewed recent accomplishments and near-term projects: 12 grant-funded property buyouts since 2016 (typically 75% FEMA / 25% city), completion of levy phase 1 in 2024, planned phase 2 stop-log structure for 2028, and conveyance/channel projects downtown. He said Project 4 (TCB at McCall) is ready for planning and that the city continues to apply for buyout and mitigation grants, though funding has been harder to secure in recent years.
On CRS, Heatherman explained each point yields about a 5% discount on flood-insurance premiums and said the city has not made a specific game plan to target CRS 5; he suggested community feedback would guide whether to pursue more aggressive outreach and programmatic work to chase additional points. He also noted technical work such as 2-D HEC-RAS modeling provides extra insight for localized bank stability and velocity issues though those models are not yet regulatory.
Residents raised neighborhood-specific concerns (Northview, Knoxbury, Spain Drive) tied to the Big Blue River's old channel and local flooding; Heatherman said those neighborhoods lie outside the levee-protected area and that structural protection there would be a major undertaking requiring separate studies and likely significant funding. He offered to follow up with neighborhood meetings to share maps and options.
